of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



15 



complaint was made with the concurrence of the Procurator-Fiscal of 

 Zetland. The act of fishing for sea trout was not denied, but the respondent 

 argued that a question of civil right was involved and that the titles of 

 the pursuers were defective. 



Sheriff Moffatt, in giving judgment in favour of the Marquess of Zetland 

 as proprietor and Mr Haldane as tenant, set aside any plea for a public 

 right of salmon fishing in Shetland, holding that in this respect Shetland 

 in no way differed from the mainland of Scotland, and that no argument 

 based on Udal tenure entered into tlie case. He further showed that the 

 complainers produced, by the Marquess of Zetland, a Crown Writ of 

 Clare Constat^ which states that his ancestor died vest and seised in all and 

 whole the Earldom of Orkney and Lordship of Zetland, &c., &c., with 

 " fishings as well of salmon as of other fish in fresh and salt water " ; and 

 that Mr. Haldane as tenant showed a lease of the fishings from the 

 Marquess of Zetland so far as the Marquess has right thereto ex adverso 

 of the lands of North Roe. Further, the Sheriff showed that no competing 

 legal right w^as put forward by the respondent. 



It seems to me to follow from this case that those in Shetland who are 

 desirous of protecting and regulating the sea trout fisheries, which are 

 undoubtedly for the most part in the ownership of the Marquess of Zetland, 

 might now be well advised in uniting, if not as a District Fishery Board, 

 as an association of anglers or fishery tenants with this end in view. The 

 Close Time for Nets in Shetland is at present from September 10 to 

 February 24, and for Rod-fishing from November 16 to January 31 

 inclusive. 



Wick. 



In connection with a remit from the Secretary for Scotland, enclosing 

 a letter from the Board of Trade with plans of a new weir and salmon 

 ladder proposed for the mouth of the Wick River, I visited Wick on my 

 way south from Shetland and met a committee of the Wick and Pulteney 

 Harbour Trustees. The proposed weir — six feet in height — is to be erected 

 in the tidal portion of the river's mouth a short distance above the iron 

 swdng bridge which carries the roadway across from the harbour and 

 fishing quarter of Pulteney Town to Wick proper. In recent years it has 

 been found that the harbour accommodation is inadequate, and in view 

 of the large numbers of fishing boats which at certain seasons are laid up, 

 it is now proposed to put about a hundred of these in the lower portion 

 of the river, rendered suitable for this purpose by the erection of the new 

 weir. A small weir at present exists further up the river which has had 

 the effect of creating a lagoon on the landward side of the town. This 

 weir practically marks the limit of tide-reach, and when the tide is out 

 the greater part of the river bed below this weir is dry. The new weir is 

 to be raised to the same level as the upper weir, so that the lagoon-like 

 character of the river will be extended downwards through the town of 

 Wick to the point indicated. For the entrance of fishing boats or other 

 small craft the weir is to be provided with a portable section close to the 

 left or north bank. The point -which I had more especially to consider 

 was the formation of the salmon ladder shown in the plans prepared by 

 the Harbour Engineer. To this salmon ladder I took exception in its 

 entirety, and at my meeting with the Harbour Trust I made the alterna- 

 tive suggestion of a pool pass as being more likely to prove satisfactory in 

 its results, the Committee and their Engineer at once expressing their 

 willingness to adopt such a pass as would satisfy the conditions. The 

 pool pass was therefore agreed upon and the details at once settled. New- 

 plans were afterwards drawn up by Mr. James Barron, Aberdeen, the 



